Wireless Routers.

Wellington · 02-11-2007, 18:26

Is it possible to have 2 wireless routers running? I've got this stupid BT Home hub in the bedroom with BT vision attached to it but my PC and xbox are in the front room.

I've still got my old wireless router, do you think I can just plug in the details to the old router and have that running too?

Dymetrie · 02-11-2007, 18:40

Shouldn't be a problem.

We have a wired router upstairs running as a router and a wireless router downstairs acting as an access point.

Will have to check with Paul, but I think you'll just need to turn off DHCP on the second router and set its address as a high number, eg: 192.168.0.254

Mark · 02-11-2007, 20:11

Wired between the two or using them as a wireless bridge?

Wired will work fine. If the signal strength is very low at the second location you can use the same channel, otherwise keep the routers six channels apart.

However, wireless bridging is a PITA. Most cheap routers don't support wireless bridging at all. Some Linksys routers can gain support with 3rd party firmware. You need either WDS or Client-Bridged mode support. You might be better off looking at powerline (Solwise or Netgear seem to work well) to do the bridging in this case, which will get you back to a wired-like configuration.

Wellington · 02-11-2007, 23:47

Well I've got a phone line in the front room and one in the bed room. Can I just plug a second wireless router in and go from there or will BT kick up fuss?

Mark · 02-11-2007, 23:52

Well, you probably could, but you'd have to disconnect the BT Home Hub from the line first, which would be somewhat pointless.

Wellington · 02-11-2007, 23:53

hmmm so can't have two routers on same line... guess I'll be getting the drill out this weekend then. Got 2 walls to get through :s

Nutcase · 03-11-2007, 09:13

You should be able to disable the router function on one of them? I'm running a dell and a netgear router on mine, the dell one is just an access point as I've switch the router bit off.

Del Lardo · 03-11-2007, 14:36

The only wireless kit that I've seen bridge well is the Buffalo routers. If BT will let you junk the homegateway then I'd recommend doing that though you can't do that if you have BT Vision as you need the homegateway for QOS.

Mark · 03-11-2007, 16:35

Anything should bridge well at the modem end. It's the other end that causes problems. I used my Draytek at the modem end and a Linksys WRT45GS with Sveasoft firmware at the client end. This worked very well for the connection but despite around 18 months of trying I couldn't get the connection stable beyond about 5Mbps. In the end I switched to Powerline to do the wireless part but I'm still using both the Draytek and the Linksys.

02-11-2007, 18:26	#1
Wellington Long Island Iced Tea Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cranham, Upminster, Essex Posts: 293	Wireless Routers. Is it possible to have 2 wireless routers running? I've got this stupid BT Home hub in the bedroom with BT vision attached to it but my PC and xbox are in the front room. I've still got my old wireless router, do you think I can just plug in the details to the old router and have that running too? __________________

02-11-2007, 18:40	#2
Dymetrie A large glass of Merlot Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Letchworth with a Lightsaber Posts: 5,819	Shouldn't be a problem. We have a wired router upstairs running as a router and a wireless router downstairs acting as an access point. Will have to check with Paul, but I think you'll just need to turn off DHCP on the second router and set its address as a high number, eg: 192.168.0.254 __________________ Khef, Ka and Ka-Tet....

02-11-2007, 20:11	#3
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Wired between the two or using them as a wireless bridge? Wired will work fine. If the signal strength is very low at the second location you can use the same channel, otherwise keep the routers six channels apart. However, wireless bridging is a PITA. Most cheap routers don't support wireless bridging at all. Some Linksys routers can gain support with 3rd party firmware. You need either WDS or Client-Bridged mode support. You might be better off looking at powerline (Solwise or Netgear seem to work well) to do the bridging in this case, which will get you back to a wired-like configuration. Last edited by Mark; 02-11-2007 at 20:15.

02-11-2007, 23:47	#4
Wellington Long Island Iced Tea Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cranham, Upminster, Essex Posts: 293	Well I've got a phone line in the front room and one in the bed room. Can I just plug a second wireless router in and go from there or will BT kick up fuss? __________________

02-11-2007, 23:53	#6
Wellington Long Island Iced Tea Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cranham, Upminster, Essex Posts: 293	hmmm so can't have two routers on same line... guess I'll be getting the drill out this weekend then. Got 2 walls to get through :s __________________

02-11-2007, 23:52	#5
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Well, you probably could, but you'd have to disconnect the BT Home Hub from the line first, which would be somewhat pointless.

03-11-2007, 09:13	#7
Nutcase Moonshine Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Chelmsford, innit! Posts: 3,979	You should be able to disable the router function on one of them? I'm running a dell and a netgear router on mine, the dell one is just an access point as I've switch the router bit off.

03-11-2007, 14:36	#8
Del Lardo Absinthe Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Cambridge Posts: 2,539	The only wireless kit that I've seen bridge well is the Buffalo routers. If BT will let you junk the homegateway then I'd recommend doing that though you can't do that if you have BT Vision as you need the homegateway for QOS.

03-11-2007, 16:35	#9
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Anything should bridge well at the modem end. It's the other end that causes problems. I used my Draytek at the modem end and a Linksys WRT45GS with Sveasoft firmware at the client end. This worked very well for the connection but despite around 18 months of trying I couldn't get the connection stable beyond about 5Mbps. In the end I switched to Powerline to do the wireless part but I'm still using both the Draytek and the Linksys.